Last test. 
(With some help from MoMochas)

When it came to the last exercise, Alexa feel the most comfortable. Dodging matter flying out of a machine was just really easy for her barrier. This is what it was made for. To protect people in it from what ever may hurl at it. The only thing was she wouldn’t be able to run and have the bubble up. The surface was insanely slippery without the right foot gear.

“Man I wish I had those special grade boots I wanted.” She thought to herself quietly as she watched her classmates do their turns before her.  “I’ll just have to naturally dodge for what I can. And use the barrier for what i can’t. It would be hard to keep shutting off my breath and bring it back.”

After watching some of the students, she felt really good about her odds. All she had to do was just pace herself. There was nothing hard about that. There was also the fact that she had to stay out of her own head.

“Alexa, you’re up!” 

“I got this!”

Her steps were heavy as she made her way up to the designated area. This was her arena. Protecting people is what she was made to do. Before the machine started up, an image flashed in her head. When she was in the exam and she had so many kids in her barrier, protecting them from the robots. This should be nothing. She felt a new bit of determination as she heard the machine begin to “whur” in start up.

Alexa started with a slow walking pace. When a piece of debri shot out, she hopped to her right. The next target, she ducked to her knees. Third one, she frog jumped over. It was all reminiscent of her training at her mother’s dojo and with children her mother taught. They would use her as target practice all the time.  A series of  object came out and she was able to dodge them with ease. She stayed focused, but she could tell that Gang Orca was going to up the leveling. She was ready.

“Alright, here comes the more difficult stuff.”

This made Alexa speed up the pace to a trot. This was not hard for her to keep track of her breath and moving. The projectiles were moving faster through the air. Her movements still consisted of jumping, hopping, and ducking. As she went to leapfrog over one of the pieces, another shot while she was airborne.

‘Now!’

Without another thought, her hands were brought together in a box shape and her breath was cut off. The boulder like object bounced itself off the bubble and pushed her back. It was fine. She was encased and nothing would hurt her as she brought her legs back down to stand. Of course she came back to the ground a little faster than she thought and slipped on the bubbles surface.

‘Dang it!’ Her mind screamed as she landed on her butt. 

Luckily she was able to hold her breath longer while falling. Two more objects zoomed and fell away.

‘That was close.’

The barrier fell as she regained her breathing. Another two shot out as she was trying to regain her footing but she bring her head under one and take a shot to the shoulder. 

“Ugh!”

Her shoulder felt bad, but she wasn’t going to stop. She’d suck in a quick breath and reformed the box with her hands. The barrier back up, she was on her feet now. There seemed to be more coming out of the machine now. Her stance was pretty strong as she let the objects hit her barrier. She wasn’t sure if Mr Orca, brought the speed up but it seemed like they seemed to be flying out pretty fast at this point. Normally, she could hold her breath long, but she only got a small amount of air. 

‘I wonder how long I could keep this up. This wouldn’t be that hard if I didn’t hurt my shoulder.’

After a few more seconds, the feeling in her chest started to tighten. A series of five object flew the air and she tried to hold the barrier. Her body squeezed to stretch the hold. Three hit, her body choked in air. The fourth barely missed her elbow and the 5 slammed into her right thigh.

“AHHH!” She screamed out as she fell to her knees.

The machine was quickly shut off. Gang Orca walked over slowly. He looked over the wounds with stern. 

“Head to the infirmary. You’ll be fine….On second thought.”

The disappointment started to flood in as she tried to get up but had a hard time. 

"Could someone take Alexa to the infirmary?" Gang Orca asked. The students looked at each other awkwardly.

"I'll do it." Tokiko said, raising her hand. Alexa looked a little surprised. Tokiko smiled at her, giving her a little wave. 


“Oh um… I-I” Alexa couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

[i]Now I can find out why she runs faster, and I'll look cool...[/i]

Tokiko went over to Alexa, to help her. Alexa lifted her arm over Tokiko's shoulder, and Tokiko swept her off her feet, putting her in a princess carry. Alexa looked uncomfortable with the attention her classmates were giving her, as well as the close proximity to Tokiko's well-defined muscles. Tokiko, however, was unconcerned.


‘C-Carried like a princess?! By another Girl?! I’ll never live this down.’ Alexa tried not to wear it on her face.

[i]Heh. I bet Doll can't do a princess carry. I'm not sure anyone else can. Do they even lift?[/i]

Tokiko walked with Alexa towards the infirmary. An awkward silence hung in the air, as she carried her to Recovery Girl's office. 


‘Put me down! Put me Down! Put me Down!’ Her mind screamed.

[i]I am pretty much holding a stranger...[/i]

"Soo...you run pretty fast. What sort of regiment do you do?" Tokiko asked. 

Alexa the whole ride tried to keep her eyes off Tokiko’s face and as far away from her muscles as she could. Her eyes were practically on the sky until she heard Tokiko’s question.

“Um. well I run three miles a day and alternate it….with swimming...to help control my breathing…” Alexa’s voice was quiet as she tried to keep her eyes off Tokiko. Her face was getting red.

[i]I need to run twice as much as you...first you, then Doll will eat my dust!

*****NEXT WEEK******

Alexa strolled up to the school with a new attitude. After those exercises, Gang Orca had been trying to give her ways to keep focused on multiple facets of a situation. It also didn’t help that her mother dragged her into more dojo duty with the kids. Her arms felt a little more tone and she thought she could dodge a little better. At least, that was what she thought. This week also made her realize there were some very interesting kids in her class. She wanted to know each one of them better. Even Doll and Xen, though she still felt a little wary of them. 

The morning drive was a more quiet one. Her father seemed to have more faith in the school and it seemed to Alexa that he was noticing her grow. He didn’t talk about it much, but he did mention that she stood straighter since attending the school. Alexa noticed the small smiles he throw at her. He always tried to leave the worrying to her mother, but sometimes he couldn’t keep it in. The radio played loudly some jazz as they rode by.

“
(will finish tomorrow)